Compressible packing



Dec. 16, 1930. s. IMERMAN coMPREssIBLE PACKING Filed A ug. ll, 1928 INVENTOR Patented Dec. 16, i930 STANLEY IMERMAN, or DETROIT, MIcHrGAN V v ooMPREssIBIQE PACKING Application med August 11,."1e2s. seriaina 298,895"

The present invention pertains to a novel compressible packing intended particularly for-use in connection with the travelling valves for oil well pumps, althoughr the in- 5 vention contemplates the use of this packing for whatever purposes it may be suitable.

The travelling valve of the character men- Vtioned above operatesafter the fashion of a piston in a cylinder but has a valve structure lo permittingthe flow of oil therethrough andl through a hollow connecting rod to the sur* face of the ground. Much difficulty has been experienced in the use of these devices due to imperfect packing between the piston 1G member and the cylinder in which it recipro- Cates, with a resulting leakage of the oil being lifted and a loss in efliciency. The present invention aims to overcome this difficulty by.

providing a packing device which is automatically compressed longitudinally and spread radially on each impulse of the piston or valve member. Y

The invention is fully disclosed by way of example in the following description and in Athe accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the travelling valve or piston member;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the cylin- 30 elevation;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 ofFig. 1; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the packing sections; y r Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified construction of packing; p p' Fig. 6 is a side elevation thereof; and F ig. 7 is a transverse lsection-of a further modified piston. e

Reference to these views will now be had by use of like characters which are'employed to designate corresponding parts throughout.

der. showing the travelling valve therein in rlhe travelling valve or piston` with which to permit influx of oil without an excessive M quantity of solid matter. Above the perfo- U" rated end is mounted a valve seat 3 on which rests a downwardly. closing ballfl to prevent the return'of oilfwhich has been drawn upwardly bythe piston. y

The valve seat includes a hollowY head at its upper end provided with la stud 6 which threads intova hollow connecting rodf7 as shown in Fig. 2. `The head has opposedpor- Itions 8 beneath which is supported an'v internalring or valve seat 9, .on which restsa ball 10. The lower end of thehead threads over a tubular body 11 which also serves'tohold .the seat 9 in Place.

' Thelower end ofthe tube hasan outward ,shoulder 12surrounded` by a retaining `member 13 having an inner shoulder 14. `A spring y15 `disposed between the shoulders serves to .hold the retaining'memberin an elevated position. VAbove this ring, thetube 11is surrounded alternately by lleadfpacking rings 16 and a retaining ring17, the'se members depending fortheir supporton themember 13.

Over the to-p ringla spacer 18 is threaded on the tube and is formed at its upperend with a sh`oulder'19` toassist in retaining the `ring formed bythe juxtaposed members., vIt

will be seen however, that these members fail `to close a circle and thusleave spaces 23, as

shown'in F ig. 3,to permit'expansion. The upper edgey of each thicker portion 21 has a ledge or tongue24 toA assist in supporting a seco-nd set of segmental members 25 placed aga-inst the thin portions`to overlap or cover the joints'therebetween.. The member 25 has at vits lower end a tonguey26 received Vbehind thetongue 2e in `order to interlock Awith therfirst mentioned segments 20-21.

One ofthe segments`20-21 of the first named Y Series has a lug 27 vextending laterallytherefrom. i This lug islyreceived between'two adj a-y cent ymembers 25l and holds them against shifting, so. that they permanentlyA overlap the-j oints between the membersy 20e-'21.

VOver the angular series thus formed is mounted a yspacer 28 havingl an upper ledge 29 and a lower ledge 30. The latter is received adjacent tongues 31 on themembers 25 whereby the latter are held againstfalling out. y'

The upper ledge 29 is received in the grooves 22 of thesuperjacent series, and it will be apparent that as many of such series as desired may be provided, with the spacers therebetween. The head 5 has a shoulder 32 at the lower end thereof for retaining the tongues 31 of the upper series of members 25.

Each packing thus formed is spaced as at 32 from the outer wall of the tube 11, and in this space is fitted a split'cylindrical spring 33 which bearsagainst the packing and holds f it distended. The tube is Vperforated at 34 in communication with the spaces 82 so that the fluid carried by the travelling valve further serves to expand the packings against theV innerV wall ofthe cylinder 1. Inthe event l:that solid particles carried along with the oil should adhere Lto the innerwall of the cylinder l, it will. be apparent that the packings will yield rather than become distorted or mutilitated by the obstruction.

In the modification sho-wn inFigs. 5 an'd 6 there are two series of similar segmentall members inverted with respect to each other. These members are of T-shaped formation comprising a head 35 and a stemB. l Alter- -nate members are positioned upright, and the intermediate members are inverted,` with their heads 345 between thesterns 36, andthe stems 3 6 between the heads 35.

The modification shown in Fig. 7 is similarl to that in Figs. 1 and l'with the exception of the spring. The spring inl this case is a split wire 37 received in grooves 38 [formed in the inner walls ofthe members 21. These grooves areprov-ided although a ycylindrical spring 33 isv used, so that either mode of assembly is available. Y

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described,

it will be understood that various alterations in the details of construction may be'made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as indicated by the appended Y claim.

What I claimislzy Y In a travellingvalvefai tubular body, a compressible packing thereon consisting of a series of segmental members arranged in a ring, each such member having `a thin por- Y tion` and a thicker portionk at opposite sides of an arcuate line thereon, additional segmental members placedadjacent said-thinpor tions and overlapping the joints therebetween, a spring disposed withinthe series of first named segmental members andlbearing voutwardly thereon, and locking means between said thicker portionsl and the last named segmental members.

In testimonyrwhereof I aiiixmy signature.y

STANLEY rMERMAN. 

